THE CHALLENGES OF A TELEMEDICINE PILOT

PROJECT Carolina Escobar. MD

December, 2th 2016

Physicians Projected supply and demand

Health professional shortage area

System capacity barriers to anticipate growth of HCT

■ Human resources.

■ Patient access Barriers.

■ Structural Constraints.

– Adequate facilities.

– Efficient and safe care delivery models.

– Infrastructure to meet demand.

Advantages of Telemedicine

Reduces the variability of diagnoses and enhances clinical

management and delivery of health care services by Improving:

• Access

• Quality

• Efficiency

• Cost-effectiveness

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USON Telemedicine Project Milestones T3 Project – Telemedicine decision December 2015

Formulate Telemed work group January 2015

RFI Vendors (12 Vendors) February 2015

RFP Vendors (4 Vendors) March/April 2016

Pilot Approval April 2016

Vendor Selection (Vsee) May 2016

IT/Vsee Connectivity Testing May/June 2016

Contracting/MSA with Vsee June 2016

Trained all local ITs June 2016

Enlisted & trained pilot users July 2016

Added GT modifier into iKM July 2016

Created scheduling codes in Vision August 2016

Pilot Proton Mid-August 2016

First Patient Mid-August 2016

Created user reference guide October 2016

10th Patient on platform October 2016

Pilot TeleGenetics TBD – and soon

Major barriers to adoption of telemedicine

■ Regulatory

– Licensure, Liability,

Legality

■ Financial

– Equipment and

infrastructure cost,

sustainability

■ Cultural

– Preconceived

physician and patient

bias, Social

differences

Challenges

■ Administrative engagement.

– Lack of a unified vision.

– Financial and technology support.

■ Physician engagement.

– Site selection.

– Initial involvement and active participation.

– Burnout with EHR and meaningful use implementation .

■ Master planning.

■ Sustainability.

Role of Reimbursement

Healthcare has been stuck here because of the payment structure, the

urgent financial structure limits this innovation and fails to take into

account patient engagement and drive efficiencies.

- Alex Hunter, president of EthosPartners

The primary constraint of change is not necessarily technology but how the financing mechanism for

healthcare reimbursement will be evaluated and modified going forward.

-Eric Topol

For a health system to pay for a mobile-health solution, it must deliver healthcare better than existing

solutions.

Telemedicine benefits

What telemedicine should look like